Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding!
Directed byPeter Tewksbury
Screenplay byPhillip Shuken
Based onThree for a Wedding
1965 novel
by Patte Wheat Mahan
Produced byDouglas Laurence
StarringSandra Dee
George Hamilton
Celeste Holm
Bill Bixby
Dick Kallman
Mort Sahl
Dwayne Hickman
CinematographyFred J. Koenekamp
Edited byFredric Steinkamp
Music byKenyon Hopkins
Production
company
Trident Productions
Distributed byMGM
Release date
April 28, 1967
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,387,000 (US/ Canada)[1]

Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding! is a 1967 American comedy film directed by Peter Tewksbury and starring Sandra Dee, George Hamilton and Celeste Holm.[2]

Plot

Heather Halloran, pursued by three men who want to marry her, is about to give birth. The events that led to her pregnancy are recalled. Her mother wants Heather to be a singing star but she works as a secretary for the rich Harlan Wycliff. She falls in love with Wycliff, but he wants her to abandon her budding career as a singer.

Cast

Production

The film is based on the 1965 debut novel Three for the Wedding by writer Patte Lee Mahan, which the Los Angeles Times called "a highly entertaining and amusing book."[3] Trident Productions, a company established by director Delbert Mann, producer Douglas Laurence and writer Dale Wasserman, bought the film rights. Mahan agreed to write the screenplay and Charles Walters was originally slated to direct.[4]

The film was originally entitled Three for the Wedding, then This Way Out, Please before its final title of Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding!.[5]

Sandra Dee selected the role of Heather instead of a part in a film shooting in London with Warren Beatty.[6] This was Dee's first film after leaving Universal Studios, where she been under exclusive contract for ten years. She hoped the role would assist in her transition to more mature screen roles.[7]

George Hamilton was in a highly publicized romance at the time with Lynda Bird, daughter of president Lyndon Johnson.[8]

Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding! marked Celeste Holm's first film since Bachelor Flat (1961). She said: "It's kind of an Italian comedy set in Glendale. Like most Italian comedies, it's based on a tragic truth. When the film opens, a young girl is unmarried and pregnant."[9]

Reception

After the film was previewed, MGM commissioned Phillip Shuken to write a sequel to star Hamilton and Dee,[10] but the sequel did not materialize.

References

  1. ↑ "Big Rental Films of 1967", Variety, 3 January 1968 p 25. Please note these figures refer to rentals accruing to the distributors.
  2. ↑ "Doctor, You've Got to be Kidding! (1967) - Peter Tewksbury | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
  3. ↑ SOLNER, RUTH B. (Mar 28, 1965). "BOOKS FOR THE FAMILY: Complex Comedy of a Merry Angeleno". Los Angeles Times. p. H17.
  4. ↑ A.H. WEILER (Nov 29, 1964). "TRAIL OF TRIAL: Pioneers' Tragic Trek To Be Filmed -- Tanglewood to Tel Aviv -- Sequel". The New York Times. p. X11.
  5. ↑ Martin, Betty (Aug 1, 1966). "'Scandal' to Become Musical". Los Angeles Times. p. c22.
  6. ↑ Hopper, Hedda (Jan 3, 1966). "Hunter Sees Stardom for 2 Newcomers". Chicago Tribune. p. c5.
  7. ↑ Champlin, Charles. (Oct 19, 1966). "It's D-Day for Sandra's Image". Los Angeles Times. p. d12.
  8. ↑ Winzola McLendon (Apr 11, 1966). "Engagement? Lynda, Hamilton Are Mum". The Washington Post. p. B5.
  9. ↑ Clifford, Terry. (Aug 21, 1966). "Celeste Holm Is Where the Heart Is: in Glendale, Oshkosh, or Baghdad". Chicago Tribune. p. g12.
  10. ↑ Martin, Betty (Sep 2, 1966). "MOVIE CALL SHEET: Diane Cilento Forms Unit". Los Angeles Times. p. C16.
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